We live in an area which provides the best wines in the world (yes I am allowed to be biased). Wine events are everywhere, but if you are a Zin lover, the Zinfandel Experience at Pier 27 will titillate your taste buds in a new way. If you prefer to soak up your culture visually, you will want to visit the newly reopened Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, which is now ready for its close up. Love a good cup of Joe?  Who has the best? You decide on a Coffee tour of San Francisco. What goes better with coffee? Sweets of course, and as there appears to be an “on demand” service for everything, you can now add pastries to the list with Doughbies. Lastly, connect and communicate with like-minded Tomatoes at Woven World 2016 a weekend of guest speakers, connections and inspiration – tomatoes will WANT to attend!

 February 25 – 27. ZAP Wine Festival

Such a wonderful way to get up close and personal with your Zinfandel! Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (ZAP) is celebrating its 25^th anniversary at the newly constructed Pier 27. Five celebratory events bring the Zin experience to wine aficionados and novices alike. Located on the Embarcadero, with a spacious open floor plan and panoramic views of the bay, events include a tribute party, flights, and a past, present and future Tasting. At this event, more than 150 winemakers and principals will pour samples and provide a “sneak peek” of upcoming vintages and special ‘Reserve’ Zinfandels. Throughout the “Grand Tasting” you can get to know the wine makers in a round table format. Then new releases will swirl your senses as a grand finale. What a heady way to spend a weekend. Get the details.

Berkeley Art Museum BAMPFA

As I get to Berkeley on a regular basis, thanks to a son who resides there, I was amazed at the newly re-opened BAMPFA. You wouldn’t necessarily know about this fabulous place, unless you make it a point to explore one of my favorite cities. The transformed printing plant has a huge open and light filled interior. The museum is cleverly non-linear and you find yourself exploring and discovering pockets of space that will encourage you to stop and ponder.

This three story building houses 25,000 square feet of exhibition space, two theatres and an exhaustive collection of film related books, posters and document. The building begs you to come in. One of the coolest spots is the Crane Forum, an airy amphitheater lined with stepped, wooden seating created from pine trees removed during construction. Two current film events include The African Film Festival and Documentary voices. You will need hours to explore the art and variety of film events, so make sure to stop at Babette, the sleek museum café, to keep you going! Get the details.

2155 Center St. Berkeley

Gallery Hours: Wednesday – Sunday 11a.m – 9 p.m. 

Coffee Walking Tour – Hayes Valley

While writing this weekly newsletter, I think about things that I would like to do in our unique city. I am constantly in awe of the coffee houses on every block, and I’m not talking about the ones with the green logo. San Franciscans are obsessed with coffee, and coffee houses constantly strive to create the perfect cup of Joe.

From growing to roasting, storing and crushing the beans, taking this tour will open your eyes to the process. You will be provided with more information than you ever thought you needed to know about your morning/afternoon/evening cup of java.

One highlight of this specific tour includes a barista demonstration on coffee art. I never get anything more than a heart, but instagram photos show cats, minions and celebs foaming out of an innocuous cup of coffee. Should be a fun way to spend a few hours. The coffee houses visited are a surprise, so you just have to know that your caffeine rush will be the best our city has to offer.  Get the details. 

Doughbies – Pastries On Demand

There’s an app for that! Every day new apps are created to make our lives easier and satisfy our every desire. If you simply MUST have a home baked cookie, but not in the mood to whip up the dough, Doughbies can take care of that for you. Doughbies offers sweets on demand in a specific part of San Francisco only, 12 – 4 p.m. or 7 – 10 p.m. Better than a bouquet of flowers for a fellow tomato’s birthday (that you may possibly have forgotten), you can order a party kit to add to a treat.

How fun when she opens her delicious cookies and gets confetti, candles and a party hat as well. If your favorite person lives elsewhere in our golden state, Doughbies offers a limited selection of cookies to be delivered. Cookies change often, but favorites include chocolate chip with sea salt, snicker doodles and a zesty lemon cookie with ganache drizzle. Get the details.

March 5-6.  Woven World Summit

Connecting with other women is always a priority for me and for many other tomatoes I know. Woven World Summit is an opportunity to connect, communicate, share and learn with a heart-centered community of women. Woven itself is a collaboration of face-to-face circles of women that gather in communities across the U.S. to share wisdom, stories and support.

Woven World San Francisco’s Summit has a list of speakers as varied as the women who will attend. From Dr. Lissa Rankin, well known Physician, author and mystic, to Vivienne Harr an 11-year old school girl and social entrepreneur, over a dozen women (all older than Vivienne!) with awe inspiring resumes, will speak at this two-day event. Each of the speakers is socially conscious and appears to have made personal goals to inspire and empower others.

You won’t just be sitting all day as participation is encouraged and celebrated and fun is on the agenda. Even if you are unable to attend in person, there will be a live stream of the event. I encourage you to look at the website and click on the bios of the women speakers. Simply reading about their accomplishments inspired me. I sincerely hope to see you there! Get the details.